


The Virgo Divergence

by DesertDragon



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: Ellie's Sony Walkman, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gen, Horoscopes, Light Angst, Platonic Relationships, rated for language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-10-29 18:01:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10859190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertDragon/pseuds/DesertDragon
Summary: Joel CANNOT be a Libra. Ellie is adamant about this.





	The Virgo Divergence

o0o

In these days and times, Reading Day usually coincided with Laundry Day. It was like a day off or playing hooky from school. It meant clean clothes _and_ story time, and damn if those weren't the two best things in the whole wide world. Good for the soul. Besides, reading was damn hard while traveling long distances on a horse, even one as awesome as Callus, and Wyoming and Colorado weren't exactly neighbors. Well, okay, they were neighbors, but having to cross all of Wyoming wasn't a jog in the park. It went without saying that taking an afternoon to break camp was also a break from her saddle-sore ass. Cherish the little things.

Ellie couldn't wait to find more reading material when they reached the University of Eastern Colorado. They were almost there. Go Big Horns, as Joel would say. She would have to get him to tell her all about football. He had mentioned off-hand that he had played the game in high school. Apparently his mascot back in Austin had been an eagle. Kinda cool. Since leaving Tommy's some time back he had begun to let a few things like that slip. Maybe in his own Joel-way he was trying to make up for being a dick, trying to open up to her just a little.

She wasn't going to let it go to her head. Hell, she didn't want him to strain himself. He was liable to crack something in that hard head of his if he tried too hard; then where would she be?

Today they were breaking their journey at a woodsy campground that stretched along a fresh-water stream; way too good to pass up. It was littered with overgrown fire pits and small three-walled cabins on stilts, one of which she was currently sprawled on the deck of. Joel was twenty-odd feet away, hunched over a rickety picnic table, their ammunition supply scattered across it. She guessed taking inventory was his own way of relaxing. Control freak, she mumbled. At least he was stripped down to t-shirt and sweats. This was as down to earth as she was ever going to get him. Just behind him, their clothes swayed on a makeshift clothes line together, dripping from the creek water and making for a mildly intimate if not domestic sight. Flannel and blue jeans; fashion staple of the world they lived in.

Not that Ellie claimed to know or care much about clothing trends; ridiculous things to think about, really. Smelling fresh was more important and not, say, being covered in the stench of clicker tainted sewer water. Priorities, man.

Other times, though, like today when she felt safe and the fall day was so damn sunny it was surreal, the inclination to be girly was hard to resist.

She found herself stretched out on her back in a tank top and shorts, her pale skin soaking up the dappled rays and she didn't even care that her scar was on full display. She'd made herself into an "L" shape, legs propped straight up against one wall and she stared lazily at her black high-tops, wondering what to read today.

She had burned through her comic book resources over and over until she could read no more _Savage Starlight_. Daniela and James would have to sit on the back burner for a while until Joel could scavenge up more graphic goodness for her. He was excellent at that.

She snaked a hand into her backpack and blindly searched for a few other treasures she knew to be hiding in there. Pittsburgh had been brutal yet plentiful in this regard, particularity their little stop at the book store. Part of _endure and survive_ meant always have reading material on hand. Granted she didn't have much room to haul a frickin' library across country, so she had tried to choose wisely. A little compact volume called "The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need" seemed to fit this requirement nicely.

Ah, there it is! She yanked it out. Originally published in nineteen-eighty-two - man, that was forever ago! - it was written by some lady named Joanne Martine Wollfolk. Okee Dokee. _What can you tell me, Joanne?_ Ellie thought, skimming the covers, front and back. This two-thousand-twelve revision boasted _downloadable content_. What the fuck was Amazon? It didn't really matter. Using the moon and stars and other shit to help better understand personality traits and human relationships sounded like it might be right up her alley.

She glanced over at her burly companion. She would need all the help she could get with deciphering that guy. Their relationship had been tentative at best, but she was glad that it was warming up after their argument at the Hidden Pines ranch house. Hell, she wasn't looking for a father figure. Nope. Just someone she could trust; a friend. What makes you tick, Joel? Maybe cracking his skull open _would_ make it easier to understand him. Or she could start with this book.

Ellie began to thumb through it, flipping right passed February where her own zodiac fell. She already knew a little bit about her sign. A girl in military school who was into reading horoscopes told her all about it. Aquarius. Ironic that she was a water sign when she couldn't even frickin' swim, but there you had it. Seemed accurate enough otherwise, but right she now didn't really care about over analyzing herself. No sir-ee.

One of the other little morsels that Joel had revealed about himself was that his birthday fell _sometime in September_. She couldn't remember what they had been talking about when this little tidbit spilled forth, but he hadn't been specific on a date or even a year for that matter.

Ellie flipped to Part Three of the book and began perusing until she landed somewhere around page two hundred forty-nine. He could be cryptic all he wanted; she had the power of planets and shit on her side.

Okay, somewhere in September. She flipped more pages. September. That would make him a... Virgo? Was that right? Let's see.

She didn't have to read too far to realize that her powers of deduction were amazingly fantastic. Oh, yes, here we go. What are the characteristics of a Virgo male?

"Positive traits," she began to recite out loud to herself. "Reliability, intelligence, practicability. Hmm. Not too far off. He's nothing if not practical. Certainly reliable. How many times has he saved my ass? Okay. How about weaknesses?" She wasn't sure why she was grinning as she turned the page. "Fussiness, negativity, crankiness, being difficult and overly reserved. Ha! Holy crap!" she whooped, bringing attention to herself.

"What are you on about over there?" came a gruff southern baritone.

She threw a mischievous grin his way. "Uhh. Just reading to myself," she called back, not that he was really paying her any mind as he sat there cleaning his nine mill.

"Oh, yeah? Whatcha readin'?"

Ellie told him the title. " _The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need_. And damn, these things are spot-on!"

"Where'd you get that?"

"Um. Pittsburgh. Interesting read. I'm trying to get a little insight into your dark soul, bud."

She heard him sigh even from all the way over here.

"Ellie. Those things are all bullshit. Your comics probably have more redeeming qualities."

She wasn't going to let him get all parental on her. She hated that. "Pshh. The comics don't let me see inside your thick skull." Before he could open his mouth again, she said, "Listen to this: the Virgo man is an extremely multitalented person, yet he is mistrustful and good at hiding his true feelings. Never expect a Virgo to tell others about his privacy; he would rather overcome problems by himself. Sensitive and hot tempered -" at this she realized that he had left the picnic table and was making his way over to her, backpack in hand. She raised a pointed eyebrow at him, but he wasn't looking at her. "- he thinks he's the only person saying the right things. A Virgo male never says no to freedom and he loves traveling!"

From somewhere by his shady tree, Callus huffed loudly and shook out his mane.

"Jesus Christ."

"Wait, I'm not done. Quiet, smoldering, stubborn -"

"You're just namin' off adjectives now."

" - critical, cold, unpredictable. However, in a romantic relationship he is considerate -"

"Okay. Enough." Joel set his pack and pistol on the raised deck with a thud, book-ending this topic of conversation. He was tall enough to lean against the deck and one turn of her head would've found him eye level with her if he hadn't been concentrating so hard on shoving his precious inventory back into his bag.

"Come on," she sighed. "You have to admit how fucking accurate it is."

"I'm not a Virgo."

"What?"

"I'm not a Virgo," he muttered, all matter-of-fact.

She laughed. "Yes, you are."

"Nope."

"But you ARE."

He snickered and graced her with that rare side-long, lopsided grin. "Libra."

Ellie crinkled her nose in confusion. "Lib -?" She re-opened her damn book and searched furiously.

"Yep."

She found it. Libra was at the end of September. Dammit! What did it say? How the hell could this man be anything other than fucking Virgo?

No, no, no. Something was amiss. The little crease in her forehead grew deeper and deeper the more she read to herself; diplomatic, gracious, fair-minded, social. She could feel an uncomfortable urge to laugh build up in her chest, but she pressed on. Libra likes: harmony, gentleness, sharing with others... 'the fuck?

"Wha? BULLSHIT!" she shouted once she'd read enough.

Joel strode away back over to the picnic table, his large shoulders rolling with a suppressed chuckle. "Told ya."

She threw a hard glance his way. Harmony? Social? Was Joanne Wollfork totally bonkers? How could this woman be so far off? She tossed the book aside and rolled into a sitting position. He was right; it was all complete bullshit!

Then she sighed; she wasn't ready to give up on the stars just yet. "This can't be right, goddamn it. Joel! You're birthday must be wrong. They switched babies at the hospital. Somethin!"

He half-turned back and gave her his driest look.

Ellie jumped off the deck rather than use the rotted stairs and gestured in protest one last time. "You're not a Libra, Joel. Nothing you say will convince me."

"Well, that's good, cause I ain't got my driver's license on me to prove it anyhow. Just let it go, kid."

"Fine." She threw she hands up in the air in defeat, moving off downhill toward the stream. She muttered under her breath as she strode past him, not realizing that he heard her. "...But you're a Virgo, dammit. You may be difficult an' cranky. But you're _my_ difficult and cranky. Fucking book..."

o0o

The burst of fall foliage hid the campgrounds well in gold, green and orange, but Joel could still keep an eye on Ellie through the trees. She had wandered off down the path and had parked herself on a rock near the water. No reading this time; she looked to be listening to her old Sony Walkman despite bitching about her batteries being almost dead.

He would have to find her some more. He told himself that he enjoyed the quiet it brought him when she was listening to that thing, but really he had been enjoying their conversations more and more. For all that, the girl could sure ask a damn lot of questions. It was never ending.

He felt a warm nose push into his shoulder and glanced back at the horse. "You sure don't mind her ramblin', I bet." He reached up and stroked the big bay around his jaw. "You've found yourself a fast friend in that girl." Callus seemed to huff in the affirmative.

Joel caught sight of his watch as he lowered his hand and instantly thought about the tiny inscription on the other side, always hidden, forever burned into memory.

_Happy Birthday, Dad. Now you'll always be on time. Love, Sarah. Sept. 26th, 2013._

Work had been so hard that day that he had completely forgotten about his birthday. She was always reminding him of stuff. He hated that she had to, should've been around for her more. He rubbed the watch, the broken feel of it rarely soothing him, just reminding him.

It was unfortunate that his birthday had coincided with the eve of losing Sarah and the Outbreak, but that was how this fucking world worked. He rectified this by simply not thinking about it much anymore.

...Which might be harder to do now that Ellie had it on her mental calendar. He leaned a little to the left and caught sight of her dark auburn locks shining in the fall sunshine. There wouldn't be many warm days left like this, not in this part of the country. Best to let her enjoy it while they were safe.

His hand slid off his watch as he stood up, scratching the back of his neck as he stretched. He could hear Ellie's words in his head, clear as a bell. _You're a Virgo, dammit... Can't convince me otherwise._

"Alright, girl," he muttered softly to himself, moving to get a fire started. "Have it your way. Virgo it is."

If Ellie had the power to turn back time a little, and grant him a different birthday, then he'd be any damn thing she wanted.

o0o

**Author's Note:**

> While I was doing research into Joel's birthday for my current TLOU coffee shop AU (accidental 10K and coming soon), my reaction to Joel being a Libra is pretty much Ellie's reaction here, and this little thing just snowballed. One little jot in my "idea book" and it wrote itself. Guess Naughty Dog doesn't put much stock in the astrological signs of their characters, but that's cool.
> 
> And apologies to Joanne Wollfolk and her book which I'm sure is lovely; I really just grabbed a title that had the appropriate publishing year and thought it would appeal to Ellie. No offense or infringement intended. The Virgo male traits therein are from random, various sources and not necessarily from Wollfolk's work (although almost all of them fit Joel).
> 
> ~M


End file.
